Bryce Curtis, partner, Williams Lloyd Employee Benefit Group
1. Find a niche market and keep your focus. We only work with construction companies that perform government work, like many of the projects being funded by the ARRA. Although it's tempting to try to expand our prospective client pool by looking at other ancillary industries, being focused and experts within our field has served us well.
2. Put some thought into who you work with, believe in what they do and the industry they are in - working with clients that you respect and enjoy being around makes the job a lot easier.
3. Don't sell products just because you can. Rather than trying to be all things to every client/prospect, constantly review your product lines and stay focused on what you do best.
4. Network with other insurance brokers in your industry. By becoming an expert in a niche business, there are lots of opportunities for referrals from other brokers who don't want to spend time learning your skill set.
5. Keep an eye on your competition. Knowing who they are, their product lines, sales approach and pricing is critical. Luckily, most of them will give away "too much" information in their marketing material or on their websites.
6. Reward clients that provide referrals. A sincere note with a nice gift for a referral is some of the best time and money you can spend.
7. Speaking of referrals, work closely with other professionals in your industry. CPAs and attorneys, because of the trust levels they have with their clients, have referred some of our largest accounts.
8. Keep careful notes when making sales calls. Document EVERY prospect call with contact management software. Calling the same dead-end lead multiple times due to a lack of documentation will take the wind out of your prospecting sails very quickly.
9. Treat your vendors with respect. Yes, you need to make sure they are doing their job and of course they will make mistakes, but you'll get much better support in the long run by treating them well.
10. Integrity in business helps you sleep well at night.
